getting ready 2 jump

[thefarrier]

Hi ppl, can u give me some advice.

i cant get my strides towards the jump correctly
im either not ready or bein early to much,, i cant work out when my horse is going to jump.

how can i do this ???

[helenc]

Firstly I would say take away the actual jump & start off by using poles on the floor. You can put them all over the place & at lots of different angles. Get a good even canter going, nice & bouncy but not too fast & then canter over the poles without shortening or lengthening the stride all the time keeping the canter strides at the same length. Always aim for the pole to be in the middle of the canter stride as this is essentially what you are aiming for when jumping.

It won't take you long to learn your distances. Once you are confident with this (should only take you a few sessions at the most) then you can move onto small jumps - do exactly the same thing as with poles on the floor, when the horse jumps it is just like a high canter stride so again, you would aim for the jump to be in the middle of that stride.

[Harleyhorse]

Try closing your eyes! When you do this your horse will take off in the right spot! I hope, your learning to jump on a horse that all ready knows how! It is not good to put a "green" rider and "green" horse to gether when jumping! (When I say "green" I mean new to jumping) If the horseis trained to jump try closing yours eyes! And gymnastics are good to learn to feel where the "right" spot is!
HH

[kedwards]

It sounds as though, at this point, your issue isn't so much one of learning to see strides, but learning to wait for and go with the horse.

I echo HH's advice to close your eyes, fix your eyes on a focal point straight ahead beyond the jump, or do any other activities that will help you stop looking for the "spot."

[thefarrier]

thanks ppl . This was actually for my friend as she has had a new horse and doesnt seem to get the striding towards the jump correctly and ends up flopping over it and not getting a good position. her horse does tend to jump a distance infront of the jump.

i think this is whats putting her off.